1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a filler assembly for an automobile fuel tank where the filler assembly includes packets or blocks made of layers of folded or unfolded sheets of metal foil mesh which are inserted into a fuel tank for dissipating heat and for minimizing sloshing of fuel when the fuel tank is subjected to an impact sufficient to crush a portion of the fuel tank.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that fuel tanks that are mounted in the rear of an automobile and beneath a portion of a back seat and within a portion of or below a trunk compartment of the automobile often are distorted, ruptured, or partially crushed upon impact by another vehicle in a rear-end collision. In such a rear-end collision, the impact ruptures the fuel tank and fuel is caused to splash or slosh around and move forwardly into the rear seat compartment and even further forward. Oftentimes, a spark or heat generated from the impact will ignite the fuel causing burning and explosion of the vehicle and resulting in extreme injury, and even death, to passengers in the vehicle.
The filler assembly of the present invention and the construction of the fuel tank incorporating such filler assembly has as its goal to prevent splashing and sloshing of fuel upon a rear collision impact. The filler assembly is made of sheets of mesh foil which substantially fill the fuel tank and which dissipate any heat generated upon an impact on the fuel tank.
Fuel tanks when subjected to collisions, have a tendency to explode and/or when crushed from the force of an impact, to open up in such a way that fuel is splashed or spewed up and out of the tank so that any source of ignition (from a spark, heat, raised temperature, etc.) causes the fuel to ignite outside of the fuel tank causing extreme injury or death to passengers.
Automobile companies in a series of rear end collision deaths of fuel tanks showed that the top of some fuel tanks are pried open by the impact and a xe2x80x9cTeepeexe2x80x9d is created in the middle causing the fuel to splash out of the exposed top and sides of the fuel tank splashing forward and igniting, resulting in severe injury to occupants of the vehicle.
Heretofore it has been proposed to insert a sheet of metal foil and perforated sheets of metal foil folded and unfolded into a receptacle of combustible materials such as a fuel tank. Examples of previously proposed analogous and non-analogous filler materials are set forth in the following analogous and non-analogous U.S. patents:
According to the present invention, there is provided a fuel tank assembly for an automobile comprising a substantially box-shaped bottom portion having a top peripheral flange; several highly porous filler packets or blocks made from metal foil mesh material received in the tank, each packet being formed from one to ten layers of metal foil mesh material, and some of said packets being folded over, thereby to substantially fill the tank with the highly porous packets or blocks, and a top tank cover plate sealed to the top peripheral flange.
Further according to the present invention there is provided a method for constructing an anti-fuel-splashing and anti-rupturing automobile fuel tank comprising the steps of: providing a generally box-shaped fuel tank bottom portion having a top peripheral flange; providing in the tank a generally trough or cage shaped enclosure surrounding an inlet to the fuel tank; providing a plurality of packets or blocks, some of which are foldable, and which are made of two to ten layers of a metal foil mesh material; and, inserting the packets or blocks into the fuel tank to substantially fill said fuel tank with said packets or blocks made of layers of metal foil mesh material and sealing a cover plate to the top peripheral flange to complete construction of the fuel tank.